


Diving the Deep

by Kalcifer



Category: Friends at the Table (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Other, Selkies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:21:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23562967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalcifer/pseuds/Kalcifer
Summary: Mako goes to the beach to indulge in a bad mood. He leaves more confused than he arrived.
Relationships: Cassander Timaeus Berenice/Mako Trig
Comments: 8
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> You can't give me canon fish people and not expect me to run with that.

The beach closest to Mako’s apartment was kind of shitty. It was one of the rocky ones, the kind where it felt like the stones were trying to jam themselves into your feet as a punishment for stepping on them. It didn’t matter how sunny it was when Mako left his apartment, he’d never once been there without clouds. Then, possibly as a result of the natural level of unpleasantness, there were always plastic bags or soda cans or shards of glass lying around, as if the city had decided the cost of dealing with the litter outweighed any possible benefit from the miserable beach.

Still, what was Mako supposed to do when he was in a bad mood, not stroll along the beach watching the clouds roil dramatically? If he had to feel frustrated and pathetic, he could at least pretend it was because his life was a movie rather than a meaningless parade of indignities.

He was still building up a proper sense of affront when he ran into someone he’d never seen before. Their hair was streaked with grey and tied back in an elaborate braid. They held themself perfectly upright even as their head swung from side to side as if desperately searching for something. Their clothes, long and flowing, were a style Mako didn’t recognize.

Bothering them sounded better than dealing with his own problems, so he paused Epic Video Game Music Compilation Volume 8 and ran over. “Hey, are you looking for something?”

The stranger’s shoulders stiffened, but they quickly relaxed, and when they turned to face him the movement was fluid and graceful. “My sibling seems to have hidden one of my possessions somewhere along this beach. No doubt they think they’re getting back at me for something.” They smiled wryly.

Mako nodded, trying not to show that he was on the sibling’s side. He didn’t have a problem with this person or anything, but he respected the level of petty determination that had to have gone into such a scheme. “Do you want me to help you look?” he offered. There, that was polite and would be a distraction for him. He was a master of manipulation.

“That’s very generous of you.” The stranger glanced at the ocean. Was the tide coming in? Mako could never tell.

“Generosity is my middle name,” he said, which reminded him that he hadn’t actually introduced himself. “I mean, I don’t actually have a middle name, but if I did it would be Generosity. Anyway, I’m Mako.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Mako.” They didn’t go for a handshake, which kind of surprised him. They seemed like to sort of person to insist on maximum politeness. “I am Euanthe Akakios Themistokles of House Pelagios.”

“E…” Fuck, Mako had already forgotten most of that. He’d gotten distracted by the house thing, which would have sounded way too fancy to be real on anyone else, but almost fit the way E-something carried themself.

“Euanthe is fine.” The corners of their mouth turned up in a hint of a smile.

“Euanthe?” Mako tried. He was pretty sure he was saying it wrong, but Euanthe just nodded, which sucked. He wasn’t about to demand an “authentic” pronunciation or something, though. “So, Euanthe, what are we looking for?”

“Nothing big. It has sentimental value more than anything.” They began scanning the beach once again, anxiety bubbling back into their expression.

That wasn’t any sort of answer, especially not one that would help him find the thing, but he could recognize deflection when he heard it. He’d just settle for providing moral support. “And your sibling stole it and took it out here? They must really be mad at you.”

Euanthe shook their head, amused. “Perhaps, but I think this is just their attempt to make a point. I’m already considering how best to deliver a rebuttal.”

“Make sure you put it like that, sounding like a supervillain should really get the message across.” Euanthe was good at being evasive, which only brought up more questions for Mako. He gave in and asked what he assumed would be the least intrusive of them. “Hey, if you were a supervillain, what sort of power would you have?”

Euanthe raised an eyebrow. “A power to use specifically for villainy?”

“I mean, you can use it for whatever you want, I guess. You just seem like the supervillain type.” Mako paused. “Not that I’m saying you’re evil. Maybe your sibling likes to burn down hospitals in their spare time.”

“I don’t think either of them would go quite that far, thankfully. Not yet, at least.” Euanthe looked like they were taking the idea worryingly seriously.

Mako decided to change the subject before he became an accessory to their siblings’ terrorist aspirations. Before he could say anything, though, something caught his eye up the coast. It was caught in the branches of a bit of scrub, two shades paler than the rocks leading up to it.

He clambered over to investigate and found a carefully folded piece of leather. It was softer than he’d expected, almost fuzzy. Dark grey spots were dappled across its surface. When he unfolded it, there were no cuts or seams, just a continuous stretch of leather.

He looked up to relay this information to Euanthe only to find them frozen, their earlier tension blown large to fill their face with terror.

Mako pretended not to notice. “Oh, hey, is this what you were looking for? Here.” He walked back with careful, even steps and offered the thing to them. They took it cautiously, expression shifting from fear through confusion into a calculating stare.

He wasn’t expecting them to break into a grin. He especially wasn’t expecting that grin to reveal a mouth full of inhumanly pointed teeth. “You’re returning my skin to me? You’re my hero!” They bit their lip. “I know the expected response, of course, but with my duty to my pod… I couldn’t possibly tie myself to the surface. I hope you understand.” They gave him a look too earnest to possibly be real.

“Uh, yeah, it’s cool.” Mako found himself leaning away from them. This was weird even by his standards.

“I suppose…” Euanthe began, crossing their arms under the piece of leather. “I could always introduce you to one of my siblings and let you decide if they would do. I know it’s not ideal, but I fear it’s the best compromise I can find.”

“No, really, it’s totally fine.” Mako shook his head vigorously. “There’s no reason to bring anyone’s siblings into this.”

“Tradition is tradition.” Euanthe looked out at the ocean once again and sighed. “Either way, we can’t settle this now. Meet me here tomorrow at sunset and we can agree upon our terms.”

“Uhhhhh…. Sure?” Mako would say whatever it took to get out of this conversation at this point.

“Excellent. I must excuse myself, then.” Euanthe gave one last toothy smile. They took the leather in their hands.

Mako would swear he’d been watching the whole time, but he couldn’t tell you what happened next. Euanthe began to pull the leather around them, and then there was a seal where a person had been. It slid into the water before Mako could process what had happened.

He stared after it for a long moment before turning around and heading back to his car. His problems suddenly seemed a lot less important in the face of magic seal people.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cassander follows their sibling onto land and meets a human. It's a fitting punishment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the Clarke's Third Law joke here. I promise it's going somewhere.

The problem with Euanthe was that they said everything with the same level of sincerity. So while Cassander was pretty sure they wouldn’t actually be the difference between this negotiation succeeding or failing, the outside chance that they might meant that they felt obliged to come anyway. They could always find a way to get back at Euanthe later if they had to.

Euanthe had them wait at the water’s edge until a man showed up in the most fluorescent outfit Cassander had ever seen, a neon orange windbreaker over a sequined t-shirt and bright green pants. Admittedly, it had been a while since Cassander had visited the humans’ city, so maybe this was what passed for fashion among them now. If so, they stood by their decision to stay away.

Euanthe climbed onto the shore and removed their coat with a flourish, walking the rest of the way to the man. Cassander’s eyes widened. If he knew about their existence, maybe this was important after all. They took off their own coat with considerably less flair and trailed after Euanthe.

It didn’t seem like they’d missed much, since when they joined the group, the human was in the middle of saying, “real? Like, I didn’t imagine the seal thing?”

“That’s right,” Euanthe said, smiling that fey smile of theirs. Cassander had to resist the urge to roll their eyes. What a drama queen. “I believe you call us selkies,” they continued, like they didn’t have an entire collection of human fairy tales about selkies at home. There was a reason Cassander tried not to get involved in the diplomacy side of things.

Well, there were several reasons, not all of them under Cassander’s control. Not having to see their sibling in full performance mode was an added benefit, though.

“Huh,” the human said. “Cool. I’ve never actually heard of those, but from,” he gestured at Euanthe. “I think I get the picture.”

“Excellent! In that case, you should know how much it means that you returned my skin to me.” Euanthe’s tone stayed bright, their stance open, but Cassander didn’t miss the way their grip on their skin tightened.

Cassander found themself clutching their own skin tighter. They’d thought hiding Euanthe’s coat would be a pointed reminder that they weren’t the designated family mediator. They hadn’t intended there to be any real danger. They’d told Euanthe where it would be, waited to hide it until Euanthe would be free to retrieve it immediately. If someone had not only been around for the brief window of time it was hidden but actually noticed it, it was a miracle Euanthe had made it home yesterday.

They were so caught up in their guilt that they almost missed it when Euanthe kept talking. “Now, as I said, my duties keep me from being able to stay on the surface. However, my sibling’s responsibilities aren’t quite as pressing.” They leaned in and stage whispered, “The only question is whether you’ll agree to marry them in my stead.”

Euanthe’s ability to transmute concern into annoyance never ceased to amaze Cassander. At least they didn’t have to feel guilty anymore. Because while Euanthe was technically citing tradition, no one had invoked it in hundreds of years, which meant this was entirely to mess with Cassander. They were clearly very broken up about the chance of losing their coat.

Cassander did still kind of owe them, though. They could play along for a little while. They waved and gave a close-mouthed smile, knowing anything larger would turn into a grimace.

The human had no such qualms about ruining Euanthe’s fun. “Wait, hold on. Marry them?” He looked wildly between the siblings for an explanation.

Euanthe responded as smoothly as they slid through the water. “Not immediately, of course. I simply thought to arrange a meeting between you so you could make an informed decision.” More like they knew Cassander wouldn’t put up with this for more than one meeting.

“I’m not going to marry someone I’ve only met once!” the man protested.

“Of course, I can’t make you do anything, and trying would be a terrible way to pay off a debt. But my sibling’s come all this way, and it would be rude to turn them away so soon. Wouldn’t you agree?” Euanthe was still smiling, technically, but in a way that had more to do with showing off their teeth than expressing good humor.

This fact was not lost on the human, who eyed them warily. “…Right. I guess I can hang out with them if it will make you feel better. I’m still not marrying them or anything, though.”

“Don’t be too hasty; you never know.” Euanthe bowed. Even Cassander knew that wasn’t a thing humans did anymore. “Well, then, I’ll leave you to it. Have fun!” They headed up the beach – on foot, which surprised Cassander. They’d assumed this trip was entirely about making them suffer.

Speaking of which, the human was looking at them now, so they should probably at least pretend to pay attention. “Uh, hi. I’m Mako. Sorry about,” he gestured vaguely, “all this. I didn’t realize it was such a big deal. Speaking of which: magic’s real, huh?”

Cassander blinked, processing all that. Introductions seemed like a safe place to start. “I’m Cassander, and I wouldn’t say it’s magic, necessarily.”

Mako pointed at the skin bunched in Cassander’s hands. “You turn into a seal!”

“Yes, but that’s it, and I need my coat to do it. I’m not waving my hands and opening portals or anything.” They punctuated their point by waving their hands and doing nothing but look silly.

“That’s still more things than I can turn into.” Mako paused, still looking at Cassander’s coat.

“No,” they said immediately. “I don’t even think it would work for you. It’s mine.”

“You never know,” Mako said, before thankfully letting the subject drop. “So you turn into a seal and you have weird marriage debts. Is there anything else I should know about you?”

That was already an impossible question when you trusted someone, let alone when you were trying to entertain them for nebulous reasons that might just be your own annoyance. “I’m a doctor?” Cassander offered.

They realized almost immediately that that wasn’t what Mako was asking, but before they could correct themself, he asked, “So what, you use seaweed to make bandages?”

“Mostly I do surgery.” It was a bit of an exaggeration, since there weren’t so many people in Apostolos that there needed to be a fulltime surgeon on call, but come on. Obviously they had people to make bandages for them.

“Underwater? Wow.”

Cassander knew that he couldn’t know much about Apostolos. They got it. This, on the other hand, was just sad. “You know seals can’t breathe underwater, right? We’ve got a city out in the bay.”

“Then how are you not all over the news by now? The bottom of the ocean is weird and creepy, but there’s no way people just missed a whole island.”

“We don’t let them get close enough to see us.” They saw Mako open his mouth and rushed to preempt him. “No, it’s not magic, it’s just foggy out there and we’re good at subtly redirecting people.”

“That shouldn’t work, though!” Mako gestured sharply. “Even if you can control the ocean or whatever, they should be able to see that they’re not following the GPS.”

“What’s a GPS?” Cassander asked.

“It’s like… you know what a satellite is?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s a system of satellites that send signals you can use to figure out where you are on the planet.”

“You’re telling me you have a bunch of artificial moons that talk to you to keep you from getting lost, and you’re calling us magic?”

Mako cocked his head. “I guess? It sounds way cooler when you put it like that, I’m definitely stealing that.”

It wasn’t quite the reaction they’d been trying for, but at least he saw where they were coming from. “All right,” they said, “why don’t you tell me more about you, then, and we come at it that way?”

“You apparently have surgery, how am I supposed to know what technology you do or don’t have?” Despite his complaints, Mako started describing some other weird devices humans apparently had.

They traded stories of fish manipulation and constructed beings and current events for long enough for Cassander to lose track of time. It came as a surprise when Euanthe returned, interrupting Mako in the middle of describing some sort of machine that could recreate itself. “Ah, it looks like you’ve hit it off,” they said, looking far too pleased with themself. “I’m gratified to see it. Should I expect Cassander to spend a lot more time on the surface in the future.”

Cassander made a face. “Give it up already. You’ve had your revenge, you can stop now.”

“Revenge?” Mako asked.

“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Euanthe said.

“Yeah, yeah.” Cassander shook their head. “You can act all self-righteous if you want, but at least apologize to Mako for dragging him into it.”

“Do you really think having to talk to you is something that deserves an apology? We need to work on your self-esteem, Cassander.”

Eidolons, Cassander couldn’t stand their sibling sometimes.

They were spared having to respond to that when Mako spoke up again. “I’m clearly missing something here, but that’s fine, just ignore the weak human here. Anyway, I think I made it clear that I’m not marrying anyone, but I wouldn’t mind hanging out again sometime. Maybe with less talk about engagement, though.”

Now, Cassander would also have enjoyed that, but they hadn’t been about to bring it up in front of their sibling. Euanthe was already giving them a knowing look, though, so at this point they had nothing to lose. “Sure,” they said. “Same time next week?”

“That sounds great.” Mako finger gunned at them. “ _Seal_ you later.”

“No, nevermind, I refuse to be seen with you anymore.” Cassander pulled their coat in an effort to prevent any more terrible puns. They lifted their nose in an approximation of a wave and dove into the sea.

Euanthe was beside them a moment later, but they wouldn’t be able to say anything until they were back on land. That would give Cassander a chance to come up with some justifications.

The last thing they needed was for Sokrates to hear that they were “engaged” to a human.


End file.
